Mason Richaud, a life coach with Mountain Top Counselling, is hosting a free community event titled ‘Big Guy, Big Heart, Big Feelings’ at 7 p.m. on Oct. 24 at McKenna Hall. Designed to foster open dialogue and build community connection, the informal gathering aims to strip away the stigma surrounding mental illness.
As mental health is too often treated as a private burden, but local advocates are stepping forward to change the narrative, Richaud said the evening is entirely community-focused.
“It’s not about making money or anything like that. It’s just about putting our stories out, especially with mental health and the stigma around it that it needs to be done in silence and that you’re doing it alone. [It] isn’t true.”
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Shared stories and practical tools
The event will feature candid discussions about personal experiences with depression and anxiety, alongside practical strategies for everyday life. Richaud notes that a key takeaway of the evening is reframing how people view recovery and mental wellness.
“You never get over mental illness. You just learn to live with it,” Richaud said, highlighting the tools he uses to keep symptoms at bay. “I have depression. I have anxiety. Does it bother me every day? No, but it’s something that comes and goes once in a while and every now and then.”
Richaud also points out how perceptions during anxious moments often distort reality.
“What I feel is going on and what’s actually happening are usually pretty opposite of each other and that’s something that I’ve learned.”
He said life coaching and counselling go together.
“Our counsellors can help deal with past traumas and and recognizing them and then our coaching our life coaching can really help a person move forward with strategies and goal setting, so they really do complement each other.”
Connecting with local resources
The event will also provide a directory of support systems available directly within the community. Organizers are coordinating with local counselling services and the Canadian Mental Health Association to have representatives on-site, ensuring attendees know they have local resources to lean on.
That evening at McKenna Hall, the atmosphere will be casual, featuring tables and chairs, complimentary refreshments including coffee, tea, and water, and an open floor for questions and discussion.
To ensure everyone feels comfortable participating, the structure includes both open group discussion and private one-on-one time.
“We’ve got the place rented for the day. As long as there’s questions and discussion, we’ll keep going,” said Richaud, adding that speakers will be available to talk individually with attendees after the main Q&A concludes.
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